Chihiro Furuya is a zombie-loving weirdo who becomes depressed when his pet cat, Babu, dies after being hit by a car. Wanting to see him alive again, Chihiro looks into an old manuscript describing resurrection and starts doing experiments at an abandoned building, where he encounters a girl named Rea Sanka, who is depressed about how controlled her life is. When Rea learns that Chihiro had been eavesdropping on her secret rants, she decides to help him in his experiments, warming up to the idea that, if she were to become a zombie, Chihiro would take responsibility and look after her... Sankarea is another one of those shows where you don't want to go by the first impression. At a glance, it's "guy who dreams of getting it on with the undead meets a girl who'd like to become one", which kinda makes it sound like "Necrophilia: The Anime", but it's a bit more nuanced than that. Yes, Chihiro has a worrying obsessions with things that shamble, but Rea is a far more developed character: the victim of an abusive father (more emotional than physical abuse, but when you see how he treats Rea you can't help but wonder how far away physical abuse is), her story is developed over the first few episodes to the point where her desire to die is fully believable. For all that there's a rather grim and depressing tone to events, though, it's also a show that's really rather sweet, in the way that it develops the relationship between Chihiro and Rea - and that's what makes the show interesting. Quite what Rea's going to do when she gets her wish, though, remains to be seen. THE GOOD: Atmospheric, some really good characters - both bad guys and good (Rea's father is a very hatable piece of work), seems to be going in an interesting direction... THE BAD: ...but I'm not entirely certain how workable it's going to be in the long run. Come episode 3, Rea gets her wish and Chihiro gets a zombie to woo, but what now? Something more than romantic comedy, please. It has charm, though, and that - along with a healthy dose of curiousity - is enough to keep me watching. Sankarea is streamed by FUNimation (North America only).
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